Salem Witch
by KageNoYoko
Summary: Growing sick of conceited wizards, Rose Evans seeks out a new race of magicals who will help her to become greater, and find people who actually care about her. Fem!Harry, lots of bashing, minor OC, additional tags will be added as the story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

**Lots of tags to cover before we start, more than I could cover in the summary. This includes Fem!Harry, plenty of bashing of various characters (I can't say who will be exempt just yet), strong Harry (eventually), a couple of OC (le gasp, KageNoYoko using OC?), and probably even more that I'm forgetting, but will include in future chapters as it comes up.**

 **Oh and this first chapter is largely laying the groundwork for future chapters and a bit of world building. Future chapters will focus more on character building and back story for some of the things I hint at in this chapter, so if anything doesn't make sense right now it should in a few chapters.**

 **Also I might have used a few noteworthy names depending on what you play/watch/read, so disclaimer: none of the names used in this story really belong to me. They all belong to their respective owners.**

 **With all of that said how about we begin?**

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Moving silently through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, the wizarding world's supposed saviour, Rose Evans, kept her head down as she walked towards the largest structure in the area, Gringotts, while doing her best not to attract any attention to herself.

Wearing a large cloak with dark red trim on it to deter people from asking questions (as she quickly learned, wizards were less likely to pay attention to someone if they were garbed in the colour of Gryffindor), and a hood pulled p over her face in order to hide her more distinguishable features, such as her bright red hair and emerald-coloured eyes, Rose made her way towards the wizarding bank in hopes of accomplishing her business and getting out of the wizarding world as quickly as possible.

Memories of her first trip to Diagon Alley came unbidden to her mind when she thought about the extremes she had to go through to get anything done in the wizarding world without attracting attention, and the stupid oaf who had basically been the cause of her early hatred towards wizards.

Before entering the Leaky Cauldron with the half-giant, Rose had been intrigued with the idea of being a wizard, as Hagrid claimed she was, but instead of simply continuing out back in order to let the pair into Diagon Alley proper, Hagrid stopped to speak with the barkeeper. Nothing to worry about at first glance, and Rose was patient enough to wait for Hagrid to finish exchanging pleasantries with the barkeeper, but lost all respect for the man because of the next thing to come out of his mouth.

Without bothering to lower his voice in the slightest Hagrid shouted loud enough to be heard over everyone else in the pub "nothing today Tom, I have to take Rose to get her things for Hogwarts. Important business straight from Dumbledore, ya know."

Staring up at the man incredulously, Rose squeaked when all eyes in the room turned to face her, and see what all the commotion was about. Things rapidly deteriorated from there, until it was all Rose could do to stop herself from beginning to punch people.

The wizards began to swarm around the girl, shouting over one another their praises towards the girl, and trying to get close enough to touch her, which made the girl's skin crawl as she could clearly see how disgusting most of their hands were.

As she would only find out later, the reason why everyone immediately knew that she was the girl-who-lived was because apparently following the defeat of the dark lord, the name Rose was considered sacred, and naming your own child after the famed saviour was considered highly taboo.

So, due to Hagrid's supposed slip of the tongue, Rose ended up getting mobbed by her first group of fans, and despite cries for help Hagrid refused to move to help the girl at first. It was only after the mob died down slightly after a few people had managed to grab onto her to be satisfied that Hagrid waded into the crowd easily enough with his bulk, and forced people to disperse, claiming that they had to get on with their business.

Rose was at least thankful at the time that the same thing didn't happen when they stepped onto Diagon Alley proper, or else she would have held Hagrid even further in contempt for forcing Rose to deal with her fame.

Now though the buffoon was not with her, nor were any other people that could potentially blow her cover, so Rose managed to move quickly enough through the crowds and slip into Gringotts without trouble, to the girl's relief.

It came as a surprise that the first thing she heard when she stepped into the bank was a very familiar and headache-inducing shrill cry from the Weasley Matriarch, who was standing in front of a teller shrieking at the poor Goblin, who appeared uninterested in whatever she might be talking about.

Apparently growing tired of shouting as it didn't appear to be having any effect on the Goblin, Molly stormed off towards the door, thankfully passing Rose without realizing who the person in the cloak was, and the younger girl shrugged her shoulders before taking the now vacated teller's desk and adjusting her hood slightly to allow the Goblin to see some of her bright red hair and green eyes.

"How interesting Ms. Potter, Molly Weasley was just in here interested in gaining access to the Potter vaults, but as I did not have permission from you, she was forced to leave without whatever she wanted" the Goblin commented coolly, boredom dripping from his tone.

"It's Ms. Evans if you please" Rose requested of the Goblin as a frown marred her otherwise pretty features "and I have never given Molly Weasley permission to access my vault, so I don't understand what that old harpy might be up to attempting to gain access to my personal funds."

"Matters for another time" the goblin replied with disinterest, leaving Rose to believe he meant more along the lines of never getting back to it, to her annoyance. "What might the Goblins do for you today Ms. Evans?" He asked, though there was a snide tone as he hissed out her preferred surname, which made the girl seethe silently, but hold herself back for now.

"I would like to be escorted down to my vault in order to make a withdrawal, if you do not mind" the girl asked, keeping the annoyance out of her voice at having to deal with this greedy little monster.

Without responding, the Goblin made a few gestures to one of the other Goblin that was moving around in the lobby, and when he approached the two began to communicate in their native language for a minute. Once finished, the Goblin gestured for Rose to follow him and began to lead her to the back of the bank where the mine carts awaited to take her down to her vault.

Much as she would have liked to enjoy the ride down to her vault like the child she should have been, Rose was deep in thought during the voyage, and occasionally glanced at the Goblin who had been assigned to escort her, wondering if he was just a normal Goblin, or if this one had been given another assignment by his superior that she was unaware of.

Unlocking and slipping into her vault was easy enough, and she was glad that the Goblin remained outside as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a shrunken trunk, which she enlarged with the push of a button before opening and getting down to work.

The act of transporting all of her money into the trunk took longer than she expected it to, but finally she managed to get the last of her cash inside, and zipped it shut with a note of gratitude to whoever thought of applying enlarged spaces to the inside of the trunk, as otherwise she never would have been able to fit all of her things into the trunk.

Shrinking it down once more and hiding the trunk away, Rose departed from her vault for hopefully the last time, and got back into the cart with the Goblin, who sneered at her, making her bristle and consider pushing him out of the cart once they got moving. She only thought better of it because she knew they would ask questions, and he was the only way that she was getting out of the cart without likely crashing it.

It was a relieved young girl that departed from the stuffy bank a few minutes later with all of her funds stored in a trunk she now carried with her, and out of reach of those who might want her money for their own purposes.

After doing a bit of research over the summer, Rose had discovered that the Goblins were not the only magical bank in the wizarding world, though they were definitely the surliest of the lot, and the only reason that most wizards knew about them was because their family members always went to the Goblins. It was a self-sustaining system from parent to child.

Most muggle-born were also pulled into the system through the wizards only speaking about the Goblins, so many people were unaware of their other options, and too lazy to do the research about alternatives.

Another thing which kept many people from learning about the other wizarding bank was that it was not located in Diagon Alley, but another all that catered to a wider range of people than just magical Britain.

Slipping back out of the Leaky Cauldron was as easy as entering, and once she was clear, Rose moved to a nearby bus stop and took a seat. Unshrinking her trunk and storing away her cloak revealed the dark-blue sweater that the girl was wearing beneath, along with a black skirt and a pair of worn running shoes, and now looked the part of a teenage girl going on a trip, possibly to visit with friends.

No one paid the girl any mind as she waited for the bus to arrive, allowing Rose to gather her thoughts and continue making plans in her head. So far things had been going according to her plans, but really, infiltrating Diagon Alley had been the difficult part, since the chances of someone recognizing her were rather high.

Her next step was reaching the acclaimed Salem Alley, and hopefully being able to find her way to the bank ran by the Dwarves, since they were much more benevolent than the Goblins, and there was less chance of her being recognized.

Sighing in relief when the bus pulled up, Rose had to take a moment to reach into one of her pockets to fish out the directions that she had found to Salem Alley, before telling the bus driver where to drop her off. He gave her an odd look at the destination considering how she looked, but was convinced when she told him that she was just meeting her friend there.

Rose had to hold in a cackle when she noticed a familiar red-haired harpy walk right past the window she was sitting at without noticing the girl as the bus set off, and she relaxed back in her seat with a fantasy novel as the comforting sound of the bus' engine hummed around her.

The trip didn't take long, and Rose smiled as she disembarked in front of a homely-looking hotel that her directions claimed was her destination. Shrugging and stepping inside, Rose was immediately impressed.

Unlike the Leaky Cauldron, which looked as though it had never been cleaned before, the inside of the hotel was nicely decorated with flower pots, couches, and had light music playing in the background. The smell of food could be picked up wafting out of a doorway which lead into a dining room for the residents, and Rose decided to stop in once her business was concluded in the alley, since she hadn't been able to eat much for the last few days.

Stepping up to the desk, Rose returned the smile offered by the motherly-looking woman working, and told her the words that she had copied down onto her paper along with the directions "Salem was a tragedy."

Winking to the young girl, the woman replied easily enough "but we grew stronger because of it" before becoming business-like "what can I do for you today dear?"

"I've found myself recently without residence because of some altercations with my so-called family, and I was hoping to rent a room here for a bit while I conducted some business in the area" Rose explained her situation to the woman, remaining slightly vague due to the few people mulling around in the lobby.

"We'd be more than happy to put you up in a room for a bit dear, as long as you have the money to pay for it" The woman replied, before leaning in over the counter to whisper to the girl "we accept both forms of currency, just in case you're a bit short on either."

Nodding in understanding, Rose dug into her trunk and palmed a few galleons to pay for the room before handing them off to the woman with a smile, none of the other people the wiser to the transaction.

"Excellent, I'll have one of the girls take your trunk up to your room, unless you'd prefer to do it yourself?" The woman offered, but Rose shook her head, considering she needed her money for what she planned to do in the alley.

"Sorry, I should head back out now, so if I could just have the key to my room I'll get out of your hair and find my way up there later" the younger girl explained. With a smile and a nod the woman reached under the desk and grabbed a key card for the girl, before handing it over to her with a smile.

"Your room is 2-C, so I hope that you enjoy our accommodations. Also you are free to get something from the dining room at any time, since the cost of food is included in what you've already paid for along with your room."

Giving the woman a thumbs-up to let her know that she understood, Rose leaned in over the counter to ask one final question "how do I get into Salem Alley?"

Smiling as she closed the distance between the two until they could feel each other's breath caressing their cheeks, the woman explained "go into the elevator and insert your wand into the key-hole, it will take you into the alley."

Thanking the woman once again, Rose grabbed her trunk and walked over to the elevator, thankful that no one else got in with her. Doing as she had been told, Rose withdrew her old holly wand, stopping to glare at it for a moment, before putting the tip into the key-hole underneath the other buttons, and watched it glow for a moment.

She didn't expect her wand to begin flashing rapidly before disintegrating into golden dust, and for a heart-wrenching cry to follow it, along with a phoenix feather appearing in the dust for a moment.

Blinking in confusion as the dust blew away on an invisible breeze, Rose shrugged off the oddity, though she reminded herself that now she would have to track down a wand shop as well and replace it, before she was surprised again by the elevator beginning to move.

The black wall gave way to a tube of glass surrounding the elevator, reminding Rose of an elevator she had seen in a big local department store, and gasped as she got her first look at Salem Alley.

Unlike Diagon, this alley was quite clean, and there were more than just wizards and witches walking around, as Rose saw a few Giants stepping around people as they towered over the different shops, and some creatures flying through the skies without a care in the world. It was definitely a better first impression than Hagrid had made with Diagon Alley, and Rose was eager to see more.

Once the elevator finally stopped, the glass doors slid open, allowing Rose to step out into the alley proper, and breathed a sigh of relief when no one immediately noticed her. It would be awful for her to get this far just for someone to recognize her and then rat her out to Dumbledore.

Another difference between the two Wizarding alleys was that no one wore robes in the crowd. Most people were wearing very casual clothing, some wore rather fancy suits or fine dresses, and even the creatures were wearing normal clothing.

Snapping herself out of her gawking, Rose looked around a bit, before approaching a woman who appeared to be leading along a group of kids, and tapped her on the shoulder in hopes of asking for directions.

"Hello there dear, is there something you need?" The woman asked the young girl, offering her a smile while she held the hands of the children, some of whom were trying to slip away with little success.

"Yes, I'm sort of new to Salem Alley, and I was hoping that you might be able to point me in the direction of the Dwarven bank?" Rose inquired, trying to be friendly with the woman.

A small frown momentarily crossed the woman's face, but it left just as quickly as it appeared, and the woman nodded her head to the girl "yes, the bank is just down the street, you should be able to pick it out by the large sign with a coin and money pouch on it."

"Thank you, but if I may ask, why did my question seem to annoy you?" Rose asked, not wanting to make a bad impression on this woman.

Biting her lip for a moment as se obviously weighed the pros and cons of telling the girl what had bothered her, the woman seemed to give in and explained "I'm sorry, there's just a bit of bad blood between the people that go to Salem Alley and those that use Diagon Alley primarily. I had just thought you might be another pure-blood trying to find the bank in order to tell the Dwarves to shut down their operations, but I suppose it's a bit silly since you're only a teenager."

Rose had to laugh at the bizarre situation and smiled up at the woman "trust me, I have no love for those wizards from Diagon Alley, or most pure blooded wizards, I've just recently learned about this place, and was hoping to talk to the Dwarves about setting up my account."

"Well good luck then dear, and trust me, the Dwarves are much better at business than the Goblins ever were to most of us."

Departing from the woman, Rose did as she was told and continued down the street, offering smiles and waves to the friendly people that she passed, until she noticed the aforementioned sign, and slipped in behind another person, only to pause for a moment as she got her first look at the Dwarven bank.

Unlike Gringotts, where surly-looking beasts wandered around occasionally scowling at one of their customers, the Dwarves appeared to be quite jovial, with smiles everywhere as they worked along with their clients, and comfy looking couches scattered around the main room for people waiting to be served.

It was immediately obvious that this was much more simple compared to the Goblin's bank, since they had a towering monolith of imposing stone in Diagon Alley, while this place was built out of the space of two shops, and Rose got the feeling that the rest of the bank was hidden underground, hopefully not organized through a bunch of twisting mine cart tunnels and vaults.

Spotting an open teller Rose approached cautiously, unsure of the customs, but when no one moved to impede her and the Dwarf simply continued smiling around his beard in a way that reminded her of a much less dense Hagrid, Rose felt at ease.

"And what may I do for you today lassie?" The Dwarf asked in a thick Scottish accent which could have made him sound more gruff if not for the wide smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye as he looked at her. Another difference between the two banks was that the Dwarves desks were not raised above their clients, which made it feel like they were on a more even footing with the slightly height-challenged race.

Stumbling over her words for a moment, Rose finally managed to gather herself before rolling her trunk up beside her and clearing her throat to make sure she didn't become a mess again "I recently have become disillusioned with much of the wizarding world, and decided to take my banking elsewhere due to certain parties less-than-friendly interest in my funds."

Stroking his beard, the Dwarf leaned back in his seat, nodding along to the girl's explanation before offering her a question "Goblins?"

At the girl's nod the Dwarf shook his head before beginning to mutter to himself "so focused on their own rules that they don't care when people poke their fingers in where they aren't wanted."

"As for you lassie, I'd be more than happy to help you set up an account for your funds, but I'd first need to know a few things, if you wouldn't mind" The Dwarf explained, which Rose had already expected. Despite her late parents being the ones to set up her account with Gringotts, Rose had a bit of an idea what setting up an account entailed, mostly because of watching her aunt when they would go to the bank when she couldn't hand Rose off to be someone else's problem for a while.

"I'd be more than happy to offer whatever you need if it meant no longer having to worry about my money disappearing into grubby hands," Rose replied firmly, making the Dwarf chuckle to himself before he climbed out of his seat and gestured for the young girl to follow him.

Doing as she was expected, Rose followed the Dwarf to one of the side doors in the room, and the pair made their way down to the second level of the bank, while the man explained some of the workings of the bank to the girl "unlike the Goblins, we built down instead of out when it came to creating this bank, so the building is split up into multiple sub-levels, with the very deepest reserved for our most important transactions, and various vaults scattered around on each level based on the importance of our clients."

"What about things like security?" Rose voiced her thoughts, knowing that the Goblins created their tunnels with the intention of confusing those seeking to steal from their clients. She hadn't expected the Dwarf to begin laughing like a cheerful grandfather before smiling over his shoulder at her, making her relax a little bit more in his presence.

"Obviously you've never heard a thing about how Dwarves fight, or you would realize how silly that question is lass" The Dwarf replied cheerfully "Anyone who would even consider stealing from a Dwarf must not have any sense to begin with, and whatever remained after we got through with them would make some stomachs turn."

Pausing a moment and turning to face the girl, the Dwarf's eyes became deadly serious for a moment as he stated in a firm voice "never pick a fight with a Dwarf lass, unless you are very sure of your own skills."

Nodding her head quickly as a small spark of fear and what she would later realize was respect flew through her body, before the cheerful grandfather was back in front of her as he slipped through a door, making her aware of just how many floors they had descended.

The door opened into a long hallway lined with more doors that Rose could only guess the use of, until she passed a few and noticed each had a sign on the door marking them as "occupied."

Around halfway down the hall the Dwarf finally paused, and gestured Rose into a vacant room, which was nicely furnished with a small fireplace, a desk, and a comfortable-looking chair for the girl to sit in.

Gratefully taking the chair when offered, Rose watched the Dwarf move around the desk and sit opposite her before smiling as he could more than easily see the stress leaving her body because of the chair she was occupying now. Allowing her a few moments to calm down, the Dwarf cleared his throat as they got down to business.

"I am Muradin Bronzebeard, eager to be your solicitor in this and hopefully future transactions, and to whom might I be speaking today?" Muradin asked the girl, which made her smile widen.

"Rose Evans, at your service Mr. Bronzebeard" The girl introduced, though was surprised by the very slight twitch of his eyebrow when she spoke her name to him, though he hid it very well and didn't allow his grandfatherly persona to drop.

"Fascinating, I would imagine that you are related to the late Lily Evans nee Potter, perchance?" Muradin inquired, making Rose scowl at the reminder of her family name and the fame that unfortunately came with it."

"Yes sir, I am the only daughter and heiress of the Potter family fortune, though I have to say that I have no idea what that entails" she admitted to the man, whose face immediately contorted into the first scowl she had ever seen on a Dwarf's face. It was not an experience that she wished to repeat, especially aimed at her.

Beginning to complain in a language that Rose didn't understand, it took the Dwarf a few minutes to regain his composure and sigh before offering the girl an apologetic look "sorry about that lass, don't worry about my outburst, it's just a bit of old blood between the Goblins and Dwarves that you don't need to hear about."

"What was with the reaction to my lack of knowledge about my family?" The girl inquired, hoping that it wouldn't set off the man again, feeling as though she was walking on eggshells.

"Being the last Potter is a very big deal lass, obviously not something that the Goblins felt like informing you of" Muradin explained to the girl, before adding in a lower voice that Rose expected she wasn't supposed to hear "likely wanted to pad out their own pockets with more Potter gold" before getting back to business.

"The Potters were one of the wealthiest families in Wizarding society up until their unfortunate passing at the hand of the dark lord fourteen years ago and their account went completely silent. Because of the disappearance of the only remaining heir, people had thought the account would be frozen and all assets be distributed to alternative sources, mostly partners of the Potter family, you know, a bunch of legal stuff no one wants to wrap their minds around, but when you re-entered the wizarding world the Goblins should have taken you aside to explain your holdings."

"No, all that happened was I entered the bank with the half-giant Rebeus Hagrid, he handed over my key to the Goblins, and we went down to my vault" Rose explained her first trip to Gringotts with the man, making Muradin scowl again.

"First of all, this Hagrid shouldn't have had your key" Muradin told the girl "since you were the last living descendant of the Potter family, the key should have gone to whoever was caring for you at the time, or if unavailable or unwilling, the Goblins should have regained ownership of it until such time as you stepped forward to claim your family fortune, most likely through a blood test, and been given a new key to access your vault with."

"Second, whichever Goblin had spoken to you should have taken you into a separate room when you announced yourself as Potter, confirmed your claim through the aforementioned blood test, and then briefed you on all current Potter holdings, since the account was in stasis for so many years."

"None of that happened" Rose admitted as her own annoyance rose "are you saying that the Goblins intentionally withheld information from me?"

"Most likely lass, and considering who had your key when you re-entered the wizarding world, I get the feeling that there's a deeper plan here than either of us are aware of" Muradin replied with rising ire of the headache this was turning into.

"Are you thinking that this all comes back to Albus Dumbledore?" Rose inquired, thinking along the exact same lines, since Dumbledore had been the one to put Rose with the Dursleys, and had given Hagrid her key."

"Exactly, but for now we ought to do our best to check the damage and limit any further meddling from the old codger" Muradin stated, before sinking back into his seat "getting the information from the Goblins might take a bit of fighting, since we've never really seen eye to eye, but since you came to us first, we have the right to the files in the name of our client, but wrestling away your gold from them might take a bit longer."

"But I have all of my gold in my trunk here" Rose stated, gesturing over to the aforementioned trunk which still had yet to leave her side.

"Unlikely" the man claimed, and waved off Rose's attempt at asking a question "if the Goblins didn't immediately take you aside to speak about the Potter accounts, then the only money you have is from your trust vault, which your parents would have set up when they were expecting you to be born."

"What you have is a stipend withdrawn directly from the main Potter vault and placed into your vault each year for your school things, as well as additional money for personal purchases" Muradin explained to the girl carefully "though because of tampering, it's hard to say whether the stipend is the amount your parents intended, or the amount a certain person wants you to have."

"I know that I could have likely purchased better clothing for myself with the money that I had in my vault before my first year, and since then I have barely touched what was in my vault except to purchase my school things."

"For some reason I have a feeling that the withdrawals in your statements will show something a bit more sinister, and neither of us will like what we find, despite how necessary it will be Ms. Potter" Muradin admitted, the scowl across his face matched by the teenager. a thought going through her mind of whom exactly was most likely to blame for any discrepancies in the girl's account.

"But that's a matter for later lass, right now we should get to work setting up your account, and seeing what we can do about the money that you have on-hand, since gaining access to the potter vaults will be an uphill battle with the Goblins" Muradin said as his personality shifted back to the happy old man as he began to dig through some of the drawers in the desk he was sitting behind in search of the forms that they would need.

While she waited, Rose made a vow to herself that she would find a way to get back at those who crossed her no matter what, and not just for messing with her money, but all of the other things that had happened to her in her life, including being put with the Dursleys.

Her fist closed and she could feel her nails digging into her flesh, but ignored the pain as she made a vow to get even, unaware of the way a small amount of blood leaked through her fingers as she thought this.

Far away from the girl, a certain book in the ministry office came to life and began to glow, before a wind pushed it open and began flipping pages rapidly, until it stopped on a clean page and words began to appear on it, recording the girl's vow for anyone to see. Once the last line was finished and the oddly red ink dried, the book slammed shut once more, startling the person closest to the artifact, but he didn't bother to investigate, considering it not really his problem as he scratched the back of his head and got back to work.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Rose sighed to herself as she finally stepped back out into the bustling streets of Salem alley, feeling quite drained from all of the things that she and Muradin had to go over in order to create her account with the bank, but feeling relieved that at least that was done so far, which left her with only a few errands left to complete before she could retire in her hotel room for a bit.

Since it was still rather early in the day, Rose figured that she ought to get the second most important errand out of the way, so with a heavy heart she approached someone and made an inquiry about a clothing store.

Unlike some girls that she unfortunately knew, Rose wasn't very interested in dressing up to be pretty, and much preferred her own style and functional clothing over frilly clothes that might make people give her a second look.

Offering her thanks to the woman she asked, Rose moved further down the street with her eyes open, looking for a supposedly large building with a needle and thread on it, and upon finding it sighed to herself before stepping inside.

Almost immediately the girl was accosted by a slightly older girl, who smiled as she saw the girl, and offered a friendly greeting to her "welcome to Threadbare, how can I help you today?"

Finding her tongue caught for a moment, Rose had to try and regain her balance before she responded, realizing that she had been doing a lot of that recently as her body wasn't used to such casual conversations "err yeah, I recently had to leave the place I lived, and I'm afraid I didn't get to take most of my clothing with me, so I kind of need an entirely new wardrobe" the girl admitted sheepishly, drawing small circles on the hardwood floor with her worn out shoe.

The older girl's face immediately lit up at the claim, and Rose squawked in surprise when the woman grabbed her hand and began to drag her along further into the store as she began speaking with the girl "well that's easy enough to take care of, though a whole new wardrobe won't exactly be cheap" she warned the girl.

"Money won't really be a problem" Rose replied, remembering the large amount of money that Muradin had helped her to count out and balance, and the amount she had taken out knowing that her other purchases might be rather expensive.

"Well then, the first question is rather obvious then kiddo, what's your name? I'm Annie by the way" the salesgirl introduced herself "I figure that we should get to know one another if I'm going to be able to help you find what you'd like."

"Do you do this for everyone that comes into your store?" Rose asked first, before remembering her manners and offering her own name back to Annie.

"We try our best to get to know our customers, since we find that helps them get more comfortable with us helping them find what they'd like in the store" Annie explained as she took the younger girl into a section of the store that appeared to specialize in clothing for teenage girls, making Rose blush the same color as her namesake as she noticed a few sets of underwear hanging out in plain sight to her embarrassment.

"Now, what kind of style do you like Rose? Judging by your clothes you don't go for the more extravagant things like some girls your age, and I will admit that sweater looks nice on you" Annie complimented, making Rose blush deeper if that was even possible, and shuffle her feet slightly.

"I'm not a fan of really frilly or revealing clothes" Rose admitted "I'm okay with wearing skirts but I prefer pants, and I am wearing shorts under this skirt" she said, before squeaking as the older girl unceremoniously stepped closer and lifted up the girl's skirt to confirm that she was wearing shorts.

"So you're sort of a conservative type" Annie said as she stepped away, allowing Rose to push her skirt down, her entire face bright red at this point and fighting the urge to hide her face. Annie noticed none of this as she began picking through the different clothing racks, which Rose had noticed were mostly Muggle style clothing.

"Hmm, well if you'd prefer to wear things that hide your body, but keep yourself warm, I'd recommend you try on a few of these things" Annie said as she picked out a few warm-looking jackets for the girl and putting them in her arms before moving away again.

Taking a guess, Annie grabbed a few pairs of jeans and stacked them on top of the jackets, before adding only two skirts and a pair of black shorts for the girl "there, those should be good to start with, but before we pick out things like shirts and the like I'll need to see you without the sweater on" the girl explained.

Still red-faced, Rose did as she was told and wasn't really given a chance to argue as she was pushed into a changing room by the older girl "get changed into whichever you like most, and come out so I can see how it looks, then we can pick out the rest of your wardrobe" Annie ordered with a smile on her face before closing the door on the younger girl.

Doing as she had been told, Rose undressed and got changed, leaving her sweater on a hanger in the room, before shimmying into one of the pairs of jeans that Annie had picked out for her. Taking a deep breath, Rose gathered up her courage before opening the door and stepping back out into the store so that Annie could see how she looked.

The older girl appeared surprised and pleased when she saw the younger girl step out of the changing room, and smiled as she offered compliments "you look pretty good in that, but I think I have a few ideas for top that you shouldn't be too uncomfortable wearing along with one of those jackets I added to the pile" the girl claimed before going to another rack and beginning to dig through.

Kicking her feet and wrapping her arms around her torso, Rose just kind of stood there uncomfortably as she waited for the salesgirl to find what she was looking for, still unused to being this exposed in public.

Rose was pushed back into the change room with a few tops that she hadn't gotten a chance to look at right away, and told to get changed by Annie once again. Sighing and following orders, Rose picked up the shirt at the top of the pile, and felt her face go red as she realized it was a very short tank top, which would easily expose her stomach if she tried it on.

"I can't wear this in public!" Rose cried loud enough for Annie to overhear, making the girl's smile widen as she leaned against the door to offer a bit of encouragement.

"Just put it on Rose, and then slip into one of the jackets I gave you. I promise you'll look awesome!" Annie told the girl, and despite still being rather flushed, Rose admitted the girl's opinion did make her feel slightly better, and after swallowing the lump in her throat, got changed.

Almost forgetting the jacket, Rose grabbed it and slid it on, before zipping it up and stepping out for Annie to inspect. She squeaked when she noticed a frown on the girl's face, and was once again left uncomfortable when the girl invaded her personal space.

Moving faster than Rose could hope to react to, Annie reached up and unzipped her jacket, making the younger girl try to pull it closed again, but Annie grabbed the girl's wrists and forced her to march over to a nearby mirror so that both could get a look at her.

"Look at yourself Rosie, trust me, you look awesome" Annie comforted, and though Rose was initially hesitant, she managed to shore up enough courage to open one of her eyes (which she didn't remember closing) and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

While it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that she would normally wear, Rose did have to admit that she looked nice, and was further surprised that the girl looking back at her in the mirror was herself. Her stomach might have been a bit pale, but it was flat and smooth-looking, and her mind offered that if she really got too uncomfortable that she could zip up her jacket.

Turning to look at Annie, whose head hovered over her shoulder, Rose blushed and voiced her thoughts to the older girl "I guess that it isn't too bad" she admitted shyly.

"Told you that you would be super cute like this" Annie chirped back before leaving the girl to go and obviously get something else for her, as Rose continued looking at herself in the mirror in surprise.

A few minutes later Rose was again surprised as Annie grabbed her wrist and started dragging her back to the change room, and her face went red when the older girl came inside with her before closing the door behind the two girls.

Backing up nervously, Rose was about to ask what the older girl was doing now, when she noticed what was in Annie's hands, and her face went pale out of fear for her life.

"No way" Rose immediately complained, crossing her arms and trying to look intimidating in front of the other girl, who wasn't impressed.

"Come on Rosie, you said you need an entire new wardrobe, that means underwear as well" Annie reminded the girl, holding up the undergarments to the younger girl "I have two younger sisters Rosie, it's not like you have anything I haven't seen before."

"I refuse!" Rose repeated, trying to back away from Annie unsuccessfully while she thought about the embarrassment of undressing in front of this almost complete stranger.

"Don't you want to look nice in front of your boyfriend?" Annie tried reasoning with the younger girl. Usually this worked, but Rose's face just twisted as she wrinkled her nose at the disgusting thought.

"I hate boys" Rose explained in a firm tone "I don't want a boyfriend." Considering most boys she'd met in the wizarding world had just wanted to be her friend or date her because of her name or money, Rose completely refused to let guys anywhere near her if they were going to be such greedy pigs.

"Oh, so you're into a nice smooth lady then?" Annie teased, and giggled when Rose's face lit up again. It was so easy to tease the younger girl, but since Rose didn't argue about it, Annie had a feeling she didn't entirely dislike the idea.

Taking the chance now that Rose was distracted Annie pounced and began to help the girl undress, making Rose wail and try to fight off the older girl. A few other people in the store just gave the noisy changing room a look before returning to their own business, leaving the two crazy girls to their antics.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Rose sat pouting in a chair opposite her earlier tormentor, a glass of water in front of her while Annie drank cheerfully from a can of soda.

"Oh come on Rosie, you still haven't forgiven me for helping you out like that?" Annie asked cheerfully as she watched thee younger girl shrink in on herself "I told you a bunch of times that you looked super cute in those underwear, why don't you perk up a bit."

"I feel violated" Rose mumbled to herself with a pout before taking a sip of her water through the straw she had also ordered, making Annie just giggle to herself, able to sense that the younger wasn't angry, and was actually being pretty cute right now.

The two girls were sitting outside of a nice little cafe in Salem Alley that Annie knew about and had dragged Rose along to after they finished their little game of dress-up, and Annie had even agreed to treat the younger girl to something to eat when she heard Rose's stomach growl.

"Having two sisters means that you have to get used to those kind of things Rosie" Annie informed the younger girl with a smile as she pointed at the youngster with her drink "I might as well consider you my unofficial third little sister now as well."

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, until Annie perked up as she thought that she'd overheard Rose say something under her breath. Curious about what the younger girl might have said, Annie asked for her to repeat herself.

Blushing the entire time, Rose admitted her deeper thoughts to her new friend "I guess having an older sister wouldn't be that bad" which made Annie smile wider and lean back in her seat.

Changing topics for now, Annie remembered Rose explaining what she was doing in Salem Alley, and decided to quiz the girl a bit "so what's the next stop on your trip through Salem Alley Rosie?" She inquired.

Remembering her errands, Rose perked up a bit at getting off the uncomfortable topic of their little game in the clothing store "I need to find somewhere to get a new wand" she explained to the older girl.

"That's easy enough" Annie claimed "there are plenty of wand shops in Salem Alley, just depends on what kind you'd like. Though I have to ask what happened to your old wand, since you obviously made it down here with one."

Shrugging her shoulders, Rose didn't really have a way to explain what had happened to her old wand without the whole truth "I put it into the keyhole like I had been told to, but after it activated the elevator, my wand just disintegrated."

"That's odd" Annie replied, bringing a hand up to her chin and beginning to stroke it "I've heard stories about people's wands being overpowered by the magic requirements of the keyhole, but those usually only happen to wands from that fraud Ollivander, or ones that are too weak for the owner" she explained to Rose, before remembering as she added "and wands that have been used to cast spells with the intend to harm and kill innocent people, but I doubt that relates to you Rosie."

Kicking her feet, Rose felt a bit embarrassed as she explained "I got my wand from Ollivander before my first year at Hogwarts" and jumped when Annie slammed her fists onto the table, making both girls drinks jump and nearly spill on the table.

"That explains everything!" she shouted, catching some attention from other people sitting nearby, but they turned away again quickly. Rose got the feeling that Annie was a bit infamous around Salem, and people just brushed off her antics "that fraud gave you one of his piece of crap wands."

"I don't understand, people told me Ollivander was the best wand-maker in Diagon Alley" Rose explained to the irate girl, who laughed at the claim sarcastically.

"That man is a fraud, a thief, and a con-artist of the highest order" Annie countered "he stole the secrets to wand-making from one of the nicest families I've ever known, recreated a bastardized version of it, and passed them off as a family secret."

"I don't really understand" Rose explained, looking up at Annie out of confusion and a bit of fear for all the noise that she was making at the moment about the wand-maker.

Taking a quick look around, Annie reached down into her boot before withdrawing a wand that looked completely different from any Rose had seen before. Bringing her fingers up to her lips, Annie shushed the younger girl, before pointing her wand over to a nearby table where a man was sipping a cup of tea and reading a newspaper.

Waving her wand in an intricate-looking pattern, Rose could see the crystal at the top shining brighter before the table and man began to hover up into the air. Thankfully the man didn't appear bothered in the slightest as he continued drinking his tea and reading, just ignoring the fact that he was floating.

"See Rosie, I'm sure what you've been learning from Hogwarts is nothing like what I can do, and my wand is a lot better than whatever yours could do" Annie claimed as she held up the spell for a bit longer before lowering the man back to the ground.

"I do have to admit that was rather impressive, but the floating charm didn't look anything like that" Rose told the girl, who scoffed again.

"What you probably learned was another bastardized spell that your so-called purebloods reverse-engineered to suit their weaker powers" Annie claimed aggressively as she slid her wand back into her boot "most of that pureblood society was built upon what true witches and wizards learned, and then made into a way that those weaklings could do."

Rose shrivelled slightly as she remembered she was sort of one of those purebloods, and Annie immediately noticed the younger girls change as she reached over the table to take Rose's hand in her own.

"Trust me Rosie, you're nothing like those jerks" Annie comforted the girl "I could tell the minute you walked into Threadbare that you're different, and I'm sure that with a little proper training you'll be something awesome."

"You really think so?" Rose asked hopefully, many of her hidden insecurities coming out from behind the brick wall where she kept them, making Annie's smile widen again.

Getting up and grabbing Rose's wrist, Annie pulled the smaller girl from her seat and left some money for their drinks before pulling the girl away from the cafe in the direction of the exact shop she knew the younger girl needed to go to "trust me Rosie, you're going to be a powerhouse when I'm done with you.

The trip didn't take as long as Rose expected before the two girls were outside of a rather quaint-looking store that had a wand decorating the sign out front, cluing the younger girl in that it was likely where she would be getting her new foci, and felt a surprising amount of eagerness building in her gut.

Pushing the door open before pulling Rose in behind her, Annie marched into the store like she owned the place, smiling wide as she called out "Mr. Anton, I found someone for you!"

A frail-looking old man came shuffling out from the back room of the store, and Rose was once again amazed at how friendly he appeared to be as he was all smiles "ah Annie, I thought I wouldn't be seeing you until one of your sisters came in to get their wands, but I see that you brought me something better" he added once he noticed Rose partially hiding behind the older girl.

"I found her needing to get some new clothes, and she told me that the keyhole ate her old wand" Annie explained, doing all the talking for both of the girls more than happily, since it seemed Rose was a bit shy right now.

"No surprise, she has traces of that disgusting pureblood magic all around her, it was probably one of Ollivander's specials" the man deduced quickly before turning away from the pair and lifting up one of his hands "lets see what my store can offer this young one."

Blinking in confusion, Rose watched the man just standing there instead of going to look for a wand, and looked up at her friend for an explanation.

"This is how he goes about finding everyone's wands" Annie whispered down to the smaller girl "if he has the right wand for you, it should be reacting to your presence in the shop, and come to him once he finds it."

Sure enough, only a few minutes later a single box came flying out of the back room, and Rose noticed the man's eyebrow raise as he turned back to face the pair, holding something that looked too small to hold a wand.

"Well that's a surprise" Annie stated as she noticed the small box in the man's hands before beginning to laugh and pat Rose's back "good job Rosie, seems you're even more special than I expected."

Stepping closer, the man held out the box to the fourteen year old, who could somehow feel a connection with whatever was inside, despite never seeing it before in her life. Reaching out with shaking hands, Rose took the box from Mr. Anton, and slipped the lid off of the white box.

inside was what looked like a bracelet, with various colored stones around it along with a single larger rock that had an unknown rune etched into it. Taking the item out of the box, Rose looked at the older man in confusion as she held the trinket, unsure of what to do with it.

"What you hold there is a bracelet foci, a more rare focus that few people are able to attune to and use" Mr. Anton explained happily "what people are unaware of are that they are also more powerful, and allow even more magic to be focused through them than a typical wand."

"I'm so jealous Rosie" Annie complained, though Rose could tell the older girl was just joking since she was still smiling down at her like a proud older sibling.

Following her instincts, Rose took the bracelet and slipped it onto her left arm, and realized that it simply felt right to have the trinket there now, like a part of her body had been missing all this time and she hadn't realized it until now.

"Each foci we make here have a chosen to bond to, but some never find their partner, either because they are unaware of this place, or because they refuse to admit the existence of our people" Mr. Anton explained to the girls "many of these foci will simply disappear when their chosen's life runs out, and never get a chance to be used."

"How sad" both girls mumbled, before Annie perked up and grabbed Rose's left hand, bringing it up to get a better look at the girl's new foci "wow, it sure feels powerful, I can literally feel it pulsing against your skin."

"That's to be expected, this girl you found has more magical power flowing through her blood than anyone I have ever seen come into this store" Mr. Anton claimed, making Rose blush at the compliment "I can only see you doing amazing things with this focus now in your possession, and I only expect you to become more powerful, especially, or perhaps despite this troublemaker that you've become friends with" the man said, shooting a glance over at Annie, who tried to look innocent.

"Thank you very much for this Mr. Anton" Rose offered, honestly quite lost for words at the moment as she felt her magic singing through her veins. Annie laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled down at her.

"Consider it nothing dear, I just expect you to be good and not do anything too naughty with that bracelet" Mr. Anton warned the young girl "Salem really does not need anyone as bad as Ms. Russo here."

Both girls laughed at the man's teasing, before Rose paid for her new focus and the pair departed from the shop, leaving the old man to his thoughts.

"Let's see what the girl will do now that she has the proper focus, and someone to stand behind her with pure motives" Mr. Anton commented to himself before shuffling deeper into the store so he could get back to his work.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Maybe I should take you home with me tonight and start teaching you a few simple charms and such" Annie suggested as the pair walked through Salem Alley, Rose still pulling her trunk behind her as the two wandered aimlessly.

"I wouldn't mind learning some new magic, but what about the trace that's put on all witches and wizards who are under-age?" Rose asked, remembering the trouble that she'd gotten into before for using magic while underage with a frown.

"Oh, only those pure-blood fools use the trace, and it's mostly to keep the half and new bloods from learning more magic than them" Annie explained with a wave of her hand "besides, your trace probably was destroyed along with your old crappy wand, and now you have a new focus to play with that doesn't have any trace on it."

Lifting up her arm, Rose took another look at the bracelet on her wrist, smiling at the way the stones surrounding it caught the light, and the comforting thrum of the magic under her skin "maybe I will take you up on that offer in that case" she replied.

"Cool, and you can come and meet my little sisters, I'm sure that they'll just love you" Annie stated before a thought occurred to her "you might want to watch out though, they could drag you off and make you try out some of their clothes because of how cute you are when you're embarrassed."

Unfortunately the pair were cut off from further talk as someone spoke up in front of them, making Rose freeze quite suddenly in shock and fear "what are you doing down here scar-head, trying to find some new filth to surround yourself with?"

"What's your problem?" Annie asked, noticing the way that Rose had frozen up, and stepping in front of the girl, pushing her behind her rather imposing frame to protect her "do you usually just go up to girls and make fun of them?"

"Hardly, this girl just doesn't know her place" Draco Malfoy replied with a sniff before looking up at the older girl "obviously filth like you are too stupid to realize when your betters are speaking either" he added dismissively to the girl."

"Why are you here Malfoy?" Rose managed to hiss out through her chattering teeth, trying to hold back her fear of the cruel boy as she held desperately to Annie for stability.

"Father needed to come to this horrible place in order to conduct some business with the savages, and wanted me to come along so that I could see how the lower class lives" the blonde-haired boy claimed with a wave of his hand "it's simply filthy how close you people are to the Muggles, and look at what you're wearing."

Annie's face was rapidly changing into a scowl aimed at the brat who was badmouthing her people, but held herself back for Rose's sake, reminding herself that starting a fight out here wasn't worth it, no matter how nice it might feel to punch this boy in the face.

Thankfully Draco was distracted as an older blonde approached, making an equally rude comment "come Draco, I am finished with my business here, let us leave these savages to their mud pit."

"Coming father" Draco replied, before smirking around Annie at Rose, and following the man like the obedient little dog that he was, leaving a shaken girl and her guardian.

"Wow, wasn't he a little asshole" Annie commented as she glared at the boy's retreating backside, before noticing how much Rose was shaking "calm down Rosie, the little shit is gone now."

"I should be okay...I think" Rose replied, though the stutter in her tone didn't inspire confidence in the older girl as she held onto the girl like a lifeline.

Sighing as she used her free hand to pat the younger girl on the head, Annie was going to wait for the younger to stop shaking, but stopped when Rose's eyes closed and she started to fall backwards.

Using some of her reflexes, Annie caught the small girl in her arms, and was surprised by just how light she felt. Brushing those thoughts off for now, the older girl tried to focus on what she should do with the unconscious girl, and only one real answer came to mind at the moment.

"Well, looks like you get to come to my house whether you like it or not Rosie" Annie commented to herself before she dis-apparated on the spot with the fourteen-year old in her arms.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

 **As I stated at the beginning of the chapter, I will explain more about the characters in future chapters, and that will include the reasons why Rose is acting the way she does in this chapter. It was not because of my writing her inconsistently, as much as it might seem like it, just be patient with me and I'll explain everything.**

 **Also ouch, this is probably one of the longest single chapters I've ever written in the last...ten or so years, and I can't say whether or not future chapters will be as long, but don't expect them to come out very fast if they are, as writing this much takes more than a day for me to complete, unlike a chapter that's say only about 8-12 pages long.**

 **This including the fact I do my own spell-checking and proofreading for my work, which means it takes a bit of time to finalize a chapter for publishing (and even then I don't always catch everything.)**

 **All I can ask is that you please don't rush me for chapters, and I'll do my best to keep you guys appeased. See ya next time everyone~!**


	2. Chapter 2

Coming slowly back to consciousness Rose tried to remember exactly when she had fallen asleep, but was having no luck as her memories were muddled and hazy. The last thing that she could recall was speaking with Annie before everything began to grow dark in her mind, just barely able to recall her least-favourite blonde-haired boy who was likely to have said something rude to her like he always did since she turned down his offer to become friends on the train before their first year began.

Sitting up in an unfamiliar bed, Rose's first thoughts were that she was in the room that she had rented from the hotel, but after a quick look around she could easily conclude that this place must belong to someone because of all the homely commodities sitting around the room.

In one corner sat a desk with a few things like sketchbooks and what Rose would prefer not to guess were clothes strewn about it, along with a well-loved teddy bear that was missing an eye but still looked adorable. beside the girl was a nightstand with a glass of water, allowing Rose to realize how dry her throat was at the moment, and she graciously took a sip from the glass mostly to rehydrate.

She was about to get up until she realized that someone had changed her clothing, making her begin to panic slightly out of fear of possibly being abducted by someone, but paused in her freak-out when the door across the room opened, and Annie stepped into the room with a smile, which settled Rose's nerves for the moment.

Heaving a sigh of relief at the sight of the younger girl awake and sitting up in bed, Annie approached and took a seat beside Rose with a smile on her own face "howdy Rosie, good to see that you're awake at last."

"What happened?' Rose managed to croak out from between chapped lips as her mind continued swimming in a half-awake daze while her body did it's best to wake up and regain it's natural mobility.

"We got talking to some blonde bastard in Salem Alley, and once he left you must have had a panic attack and passed out" Annie explained, before adding with a small smile "you were lucky that I was right next to you and have reflexes like a puma, since I managed to catch you before you hit the ground."

Looking down and tightening her grip on the sheets she was beneath, Rose let a small smile blossom on her face before looking back up at her new friend "thank you for taking care of me" she offered quietly to the older girl. Rose was entirely unprepared for the brunette to pull her into an unexpected hug but quickly melted into the affection, unused to people being so nice to her.

Pulling away with a wide smile, Annie jumped from the bed and looked down at the younger girl as she remembered something "by the way, sorry to say that my little sisters got their hands on you when I dragged you home with me, and insisted on helping you change before we put you into my bed."

Now feeling a bit nervous again, Rose pushed down the sheets further, and felt her face once more match her namesake's colour as she realized what she was wearing. Dressed in a slightly frilly white camisole and a pair of frilly bloomers, Rose would never admit aloud that she did kind of like the look as long as only the people she trusted could see her in the outfit.

"On the plus side, you look really cute in those clothes" Annie chimed in with a smile to the younger girl, which made Rose's cheeks grow slightly warmer. Rose realized that she was growing used to Annie's compliments and that she didn't mind the older girl seeing her in these clothes, which was unheard of since she had found out she was a witch and shrunk even further into herself after discovering her fame amongst the wizards.

Unfortunately the two girls were interrupted as the door was thrown open, admitting entrance to a pair of whirlwinds that moved up on either side of the bed, making Rose slightly nervous again.

"It's nice to see that you're awake at last" one of the girls stated, her eyes mostly closed so that Rose couldn't tell what colour her eyes were, but her good mood was infectious, and made Rose calm down faster than usual around new people. She had bright blonde hair that reminded Rose of one of the girls at Hogwarts that she liked, and kept it held back in a plait.

"Annie here was pretty worried about you when she apparated home with you in her arms" the other girl explained, her glowing yellow eyes making Rose think of some sort of cat, though her short brown hair made her look sort of tomboyish. She didn't think the girl minded how people thought of her though, and her clothing looked nice despite not really being very ladylike.

"We had to convince her to let us help get you changed before we put you to bed, but secretly I don't think she minded it that much, since you're like a super-cute baby sister!" The first girl added, bouncing on the bed cheerfully.

"Calm down, both of you, and stop scaring Rosie" Annie told off the pair, who only smiled knowingly at their big sister as they sat down on either side of Rose on the bed.

Scratching the back of her head, Annie stepped back to survey the trio sitting on the bed with a small sigh "I guess that I should introduce these two to you Rosie" she said as though it was a chore, though Rose got the feeling she was just joking.

Pointing to the girl on Rose's right with her eyes closed and long blonde hair, Annie offered her name "that's Eve, the middle sister. A bigger fashion nut and designer you'll ever meet, and she's the one that made the clothes that you're wearing" Annie introduced.

Offering the younger girl a wave of her hand, Eve smiled down at her "I always wanted to play dress-up with a cute girl like you, but neither of my sisters have ever been all that eager to try on what I made, and both grew too fast to fit into my smaller clothes."

"The tomboyish one is Rena, the baby of the family, well, unless you count yourself as our new baby sister" Annie stated as she pointed to the girl on Rose's left, who huffed and crossed her arms beneath her rather generous chest and turned away from her sister's teasing.

"Just because I dress like this doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a nice outfit" Rena commented with a pout. The fact that the so-called baby of the family was the tallest of the girls, likely somewhere around six feet tall made Rose a bit intimidated, but she got the feeling that Rena was a lot kinder than she appeared.

"In case you haven't figured it out, we're all kind of fashion nuts in our own ways" Annie admitted, scratching the back of her head as she looked down at the three girls on the bed "though I think Eve is the best at it out of the three of us, since she can actually design and sew."

"Well she's really good" Rose admitted to the trio with a small smile as she looked back down at the clothes she was wearing "I wouldn't normally even be comfortable wearing something like this, but it both looks and feels really nice."

"Thank you!" Eve chirped before leaning in and pulling the younger girl into a hug, making Rose squeak in surprise as she was pretty much pressed against the older girls body, making her cheeks glow red once more.

"Eve, you're choking her with your boobs" Rena commented dryly to her sister, who didn't seem to care at the moment what was going on while she continued hugging the younger girl.

"Okay, time to let the poor girl go Evie" Annie commented, before climbing onto the bed and forcefully pulling the two girls apart, making Eve pout while Rose gasped for air and blushed.

"Way to go sis, nearly choked the poor girl to death with your boobs" Rena said, reaching over to pat her sister on the shoulder, making her giggle.

"Now that we're done with introductions, we should probably help you get situated again Rosie, you've been out since yesterday, and I get the feeling that before I ran into you in Threadbare that you had been going for most of the day" Annie deduced, looking down at the tiny girl, who couldn't hide her sheepish grin.

"I might have had to leave my former home in a rush rather early in the day, and from there were trying to take care of a lot of things in the span of a single day" Rose admitted to the three older girls.

"Your former home?" Rena asked with a raised eyebrow, but winced and dropped the topic when Annie smacked her lightly in the arm as a warning not to ask about it right now, since she had seen the way that Rose flinched when she mentioned the topic.

"You really shouldn't work so hard Rosie" Eve told the girl as she grabbed her hands and pulled her off the bed "it's no wonder you crashed in the middle of the street after running into that boy that Annie told us about, too much stress and not enough food in your life!" the girl announced cheerfully.

"She does have a point, you probably should have stopped to get something to eat in the middle of whatever you were doing instead of trying to push through it" Rena agreed with a small frown as she climbed off the bed to follow her sister as Eve lead Rose out of the room, with Annie bringing up the rear as she closed the door to her room behind the girls.

"Now, when was the last time you had something to eat?" Eve asked in a complete topic change, making Rose jump out of surprise and have to start thinking about the new question.

"Umm...maybe early yesterday morning?" Rose replied meekly, her face falling when she realized just how long it had been since she'd eaten. At that moment her stomach chose to make it's presence known by beginning to growl loud enough for all four girls to hear, making Rose blush at the noise.

For the first time since they'd met, Rose got to see Eve frown, as she began marching the girl through the house more urgently, forcing Rose to hurry to keep up with the girl's longer strides while Rena and Annie took to explaining their sister's change in attitude.

"Evie is rather motherly, so hearing that you haven't been taking care of yourself probably sparked her nurturing instincts" Annie explained to the younger girl "on the plus side, Evie is the best cook out of the three of us, so whatever she makes ought to be delicious."

"Better than this one trying to cook anything for you at least" Rena added with a gesture towards her eldest sister, who smiled good-naturedly and smacked her baby sister in the shoulder lightly to make her be quiet "We've had to air out the kitchen because of Annie burning everything she tries to cook."

Rose didn't fight when she was pushed down into a chair at a small table in the kitchen the four girls entered, and hid a small smile as she watched Eve begin hurrying around the kitchen getting things ready for breakfast while the other two girls sat down on either side of the youngest.

"So what, you're going to be like a fourth year this September, right?" Rena guessed as she got a look at the younger girl and took a seat beside her at the table, while Annie chuckled as she watched Eve bustle around the kitchen and took the other free seat on Rose's other side.

"Um yeah, I will be entering my fourth year" Rose replied meekly, bringing back to mind the thought that she would have to return to Hogwarts in September with some annoyance. If she never had to see some of those people who expected the world of the girl, it would be too soon.

"You know that there are other magical schools in Britain that you could attend, and most are far better than Hogwarts, despite what the Purebloods might lead you to believe" Eve chirped over the sounds she was making in the kitchen, gaining Rose's attention. The youngest girl had thought that the blonde was focused on her work, but grew curious at the thought of escaping from Hogwarts and out from beneath the thumb of Albus Dumbledore.

"Yeah, these two attend Salem Academy, and I'm a graduate from there as well" Annie explained to the younger girl "I've seen the offered courses at Hogwarts, and have to admit that I'm glad I went to Salem instead."

"Seriously, Muggle studies and Divination are both jokes" Rena added snidely "you can't train people to be able to see the future, and you can learn a lot about mundanes just by talking to them or going out into Britain and doing a bit of looking around."

Rose looked down at the table and tightened her fists as she thought about the offer of escape that these girls were giving her, but there was one thing causing her to hesitate to take them up on their offer to attend Salem Academy "I have a few people that I kind of know at Hogwarts that I don't really want to abandon."

"Then why not send them letters explaining your plans, and see whether or not they'll come to Salem with you?" Annie suggested cheerfully to the younger girl "I don't see why you can't just ask them if they want to leave Hogwarts. Heck, why not include a pamphlet from Salem that shows off everything they offer, and see if that tempts them."

Rose deliberated over the thought for a few minutes, weighing her options carefully. Despite saying that she knew them, Rose hadn't been entirely truthful, and had barely said ten words to any of the girl's that she had in mind. All of them were very nice people, but she didn't know if they would even listen to her if she sent them letters, but from the way the other girls exuded confidence, she actually was beginning to feel eager about trying anyways.

"You know what, I think that I will send out letters to them and see if they'll come to Salem with me, it can't hurt to ask right?"

"Exactly what I was saying" Annie replied happily to the younger girl, reaching over to wrap an arm around her neck and pulling the tiny girl in for a hug that made Rose squeak in surprise but not try to pull away as she felt like she was beginning to get used to these girl's touchiness.

A large smile was beginning to form on Rose's face as she realized that her life was already beginning to change since she stepped out of the careful path Albus Dumbledore had been drawing for her, and felt more free than ever before in her life as Eve set down a plate in front of the girl and she immediately began to dig in.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Stretching her arms up over her head Rose was still smiling as she sent out a few letters to some people that she was interested in, and hoped that they would listen and respond to her messages, and possibly even become her friends.

It wasn't that she was too afraid to approach them at Hogwarts, it was just that she knew the lines between the different houses were somewhat difficult to cross, and she had seen people become judgemental about those who ignored the house divisions. Rose didn't need any help to get people to dislike her, since it seemed like Hogwarts staff and students could turn on her at a moments notice, but she could distinctly recall a few people who didn't harass her mercilessly, which gave her hope that they could perhaps be coerced into becoming her friends.

Feeling as though a weight was lifted from her shoulders, Rose turned to face Evie and Rena, who were waiting for the younger girl to finish up her business before they set out again.

At the blonde's insistence, Rose had been coerced into putting on a cute green tank top that she agreed brought out her eyes, as well as a relatively long black skirt that reached past her knees for the sake of her modesty. She had also put on one of the jackets that Annie had talked her into purchasing, but for some reason wasn't feeling as self-conscious as usual as she wandered around in public with the two older girls, and therefore left the jacket open for now.

Annie had been forced to leave her younger sisters in charge of Rose for the day since she had to work, but neither girl had seemed bothered by the assignment, and Rose was grateful for the company as she got a few more errands completed on her path to escape from Dumbledore and the pure-bloods.

"Now that you've sent off those letters, what would you like to get done next in your ever busy schedule baby sis?" Evie inquired with a smile, while Rena stood slightly behind the girl with her hands in the pockets of her jeans watching people pass by the trio of girls.

"Well, I had been hoping to meet with the head of Britain's magical law enforcement division to talk about a few things, but I don't know how to get into contact with her right now, so that's going to have to be shelved" Rose explained with a small sigh, having only heard stories about Amelia Bones around Hogwarts, though she got the feeling that if she brought the topic up with the dwarves that they could fix her up a meeting with the woman. She had a few concerns regarding the safety of Hogwarts, especially considering all of the trouble that she had heard going on in the background while Dumbledore played blissfully unaware.

"Hmm, getting in to meet that woman could be pretty difficult" Rena stated as she brought a hand up to her chin and began thinking about the younger girls topic critically "I've heard that she's very no-nonsense, so you would have to go through the right channels to be able to even meet her, and your concerns would need to be pretty important."

"Trust me when I say that they are eye-opening when it comes to the education system and safety of Hogwarts" Rose replied, remembering how students had begun turning up petrified in her second year and Dumbledore brushing off the threat in front of the rest of the students.

"Well if you think it's important then who are we to judge Rosie" Evie chirped with a smile before she closed the distance and grabbed onto Rose's hand, beginning to lead her away from the mailbox with a smile on her face. The younger girl was once again forced to work in keeping up with the taller girl, and noted that Rena followed along willingly.

"While we try to think of a way to get in to meet with Lady Bones, I think that we should actually take you to Salem Academy and help get you enrolled for now, since summer is almost over, and we probably will have to go shopping to get you the things you need for some of the classes that Salem has" Eve said with a wide smile.

"Between Phys. Ed and sparring you'll need a few sets of work-out clothes to change into, as well as a dress for dancing and maybe even the acting courses" Rena summarized to the younger girl, whose face obviously betrayed her surprise at all of the courses offered at the Academy since the tall girl reminded her "Salem is much more modern than Hogwarts, and keeps their curriculum closer to those of the non-magicals." 

"It will be fun to see what type of weapon you gain an affinity towards" Eve stated as happily as though she'd been speaking about the weather, and made Rose falter for a moment before she regained her footing.

"Not to judge a book by it's cover, but I don't expect Rose to be able to wield anything overly heavy" Rena suggested to her sister "her build doesn't scream powerhouse, and I see her more as the evasive type of fighter."

"Ooh, I can just imagine her in some cute outfit like a ninja or a shrine maiden" Eve replied before beginning to giggle, making Rose believe that she was imagining getting to design such outfits for the small girl to wear.

"A bit too far eastern big sister" Rena muttered, but went ignored as Eve was busy fantasizing about designing some clothes for the younger girl to wear to go along with whatever weapon she chose to use.

"I've only heard a little bit about Salem Academy, such as the fact that most pureblood families have nothing nice to say about it, and what little other information I had to dig deep to uncover. Can you two tell me anything interesting about it?" Rose inquired as the girls walked through the busy streets of London together, hoping to gain a bit of context about the school that she would hopefully be attending soon.

"It's mostly made up of new-bloods and half-bloods that are open-minded to the kinds of things that the pure-bloods would rather not have questioned, such as the old rules of magic that they are always preaching about people following" Rena began to explain to the younger girl "a big difference between Hogwarts and Salem is that instead of houses they have a large campus with two sets of dorms for girls and boys separately, and that people can leave campus when they like during the year if they would prefer to go home and visit with family."

"So it's more like a college than a boarding school like Hogwarts is?" Rose suggested to the older girl, who nodded in assent to the idea.

"You don't even have to live on campus if you prefer" Evie chimed in happily to the conversation "as long as you show up for classes the faculty don't care where you live, as long as you're being taken care of."

"A nice thing about Salem is that they also care about their students much more than the staff at Hogwarts" Rena stated firmly to Rose "if they believe that one of their students is being abused at home they will start looking into the matter, and if they discover the truth then more than likely they will take action against the perpetrators."

"I actually roomed with a girl from an abusive household for a while" Eve spoke up, sounding more subdued than usual "she was really shy and introverted, and flinched whenever I tried to hug her, but the teachers had asked me to do my best to help her recover from the experience, and she ended up becoming one of my best friends" the blonde chirped as she bounced back towards her good mood instantly.

Rose tried to hide her reaction to that information, but she was able to see out of the corner of her eye that Rena noticed the way that the small girl flinched at the mention of an abused girl, which made her curious as she recalled something her older sister had told her about Rose.

"More often than you'd expect the teachers have to step in to help students whose parents are unable to accept that their children are magically gifted, and we actually have an entire group dedicated to helping those poor students adjust" Rena informed Rose with a small smile that Eve reflected as the two girls closed in on either side of Rose and took each of her hands in one of theirs.

The girls moved in silence for a few minutes, the two older girls simply offering silent support to Rose, until Eve perked up and started running, forcing Rose and Rena to hurry to keep up as the blonde hadn't released their hands before she started moving.

Rose was surprised when they stopped in front of a large school that appeared to be just sitting in the middle of London, and was unable to believe at first that this was Salem academy, since Hogwarts was in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish highlands.

"This is really the school?" Rose asked incredulously to the pair of older girls "but wouldn't the non-magicals notice people performing magic around here?"

Rena was the one to offer a response as she shook her head at the younger girl's question "there are very complicated runes etched around the perimeter of the grounds that put up a kind of illusion around the school to prevent the non-magicals from seeing any of the more supernatural things that go on around here."

"As far as the non-magicals know Salem is just another academy in London for especially gifted students that only offer admission to a select number of people" Eve explained to Rose "it's just our little secret that what's taught here is a bit more special than they think."

Rose had to bring a hand up to her mouth to stifle her giggles at the girl's small joke, making both older girls smile, since it seemed that Rose was lightening up around them little by little.

"We've probably stood out here long enough though, we ought to get inside and introduce you to the Headmistress and get you signed up for classes this coming semester" Rena said as she took charge of the situation and began to gently lead Rose and Eve through the front gates of the school.

The girls were unaware of the person watching from nearby, who frowned before dis-apparating on the spot to go and inform a certain Headmaster what his pawn was doing in London.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

After what had felt like a very disjointed introduction to the Headmistress of Salem academy, Rose found herself sitting with the Russo sisters in a small cafe in London, waiting nervously for the arrival of her guests, who she hadn't expected to respond to her so quickly.

Shortly after stepping back out into the courtyard of Salem academy following her meeting with the Headmistress, Rose had been startled by the arrival of a house elf not unlike Dobby, who handed her a small note before popping away once more, leaving the girl blinking in confusion at the spot the creature had just occupied.

The note had explained that Rose's letters had been picked up by the family house elf just after she sent them, and that the recipient was prepared to meet with the last Potter Heiress in London a bit later in the day.

Believing that she would have more time to prepare to meet with some of the people that she had sent letters to, Rose was left a nervous wreck as she wrung out her hands in her lap while she squirmed in her seat, trying very hard not to bolt from the cafe and beg the Russo sisters to go back to their house so that she could hide.

Eve was being supportive as Rose was coming to expect from the older girl by offering kind words and encouragement, while Rena was more reserved, and simply reminded Rose that it probably wouldn't be as bad as she was imagining it to be.

Finally Rose noticed red hair in the crowd, and her nerves intensified as Susan Bones stepped into view, followed by the surprising figure of Luna Lovegood, who was smiling mysteriously as she followed the Bones Heiress.

"Rose Evans, it's nice to finally be able to talk with you without any prying ears around" Susan offered in greeting along with a small curtsey, confusing Rose, who hadn't realized that Susan had wanted to speak to her before.

"It's nice to meet you Susan" she replied uncertainly, while Luna quietly took one of the empty seats beside Eve without exchanging pleasantries with the two other girls.

"Despite being in the same house, it's surprisingly difficult to get a chance to speak with you when it appears that everyone else in the school either reveres or reviles you and practically forces you to hide away to avoid them" Susan explained to her fellow Hufflepuff, who became rather embarrassed at the comment since she hadn't intended to distance herself from everyone.

"Rosie here hadn't expected your response so quickly" Evie chimed in with her usual enthusiasm to try and break the awkward tension that hung around the table between the two Heiresses "we were just finishing up with a bit of business when your house elf appeared to deliver your note."

"There have been whispers around Hogwarts that people believed you thought everyone was beneath you because of your elusiveness around the school" Luna spoke up at last, though the smile on her face showed that she meant no harm from the comment, and was just informing Rose of other people's opinions on the matter "a select few people know that it is because of the wizarding worlds unhealthy interest in you, including a certain Headmaster."

"Enough formality for now though" Susan claimed as she took the last remaining seat beside Luna with a wide smile on her face now replacing her stern countenance "I just had to go through the lessons that Aunt Amelia taught me since I remembered that I was meeting with a fellow heiress, but from how it sounds you don't really know the customs, do you Rose?"

"I wasn't raised in the wizarding world, so I'm not familiar with things like magical customs" Rose admitted sheepishly to the group of girls, who nodded in understanding.

"That's kind of expected since there are also whispers about your home life, though the Headmaster does his best to quiet those down" Luna explained, before adding in a conspiratorial tone "I heard that some of the other Hufflepuff girls have seen you undressed and noticed some of the scars on your back, and there are rumours that your relatives gave them to you."

Rose's face went bright red at the admission from the blonde girl, and she had to try very hard to keep from reacting by hiding her face in her hands. She had thought that she was being careful enough to only use the showers when none of the other girls were around, but apparently still missed something if these rumours were floating around.

"That might be something I could bring up with my Aunt Amelia later if you'd like Rose" Susan offered to Rose helpfully "if your relatives have been abusing you then I'm sure that she could do something to either get them to stop or have you moved to a more understanding family."

Spluttering helplessly for a few minutes while the other girls waited for her answer to the redheads offer, Rose tried to gather her thoughts, and a small part of her mind was screaming at her to admit to the other girls about the abuse that she had been suffering at the hands of the Dursleys for years.

Only the fear of retribution from the Dursleys was making her hesitate for the moment, but all of Rose's thoughts ground to a halt when she felt a smooth hand slide into her own and intertwine their fingers before squeezing her hand reassuringly. Looking up, Rose noticed that it was Luna offering her comfort, which was surprising coming from the younger girl, and she found herself unsure of how to respond, even though her mind felt much more clear all of a sudden.

Biting back her fears for now, Rose wasn't able to voice her assent, but nodded her head to her fellow badger, hoping that perhaps she could put at least a few of her demons behind her and see the Dursleys brought to justice for the things that they had done to her for the last thirteen years.

"I had a feeling that you were abused, you reminded me a lot of the girls that we bring in from abusive houses" Rena voiced aloud to the rest of the girls, making Rose flinch again even as Luna squeezed her hand a second time.

Rose squawked in surprise when Eve pulled the younger girl into a hug and began cooing at her in a motherly tone that everything was okay now, making Rose's face go red, and deciding to indulge herself, the younger girl tried to squeeze in closer to the older girl as best she could.

"If you're interested Rose, I have contact with a few other people that I know have been interested in meeting with you to discuss a few things, and none of them have any love for the Headmaster and his little games" Susan offered to Rose once she was released from Eve's death hug.

"I sent out letters to a few people that I believed were trustworthy and haven't been exactly cruel to me since we started attending Hogwarts as well, but I don't think I should expect a response from them as quickly as you have" Rose replied to the redhead with a small smile "as I'm sure you understand from listening to the rumour mill, the Weasley clan and Granger were not invited."

"I've heard about some very unpleasant conversations among the Weasley clan, and that a few of their children have been spotted going up to meet with the Headmaster since the beginning of our first year at Hogwarts" Luna announced dreamily to the other girls "living near the Weasleys means that I can catch some of what they talk about at home, and I used to be friends with their youngest child before we started attending Hogwarts."

"There are stories about Ginny Weasley exploding at you on the Hogwarts express during our second year, but I could never get confirmation about it" Susan replied to the blonde-haired girl "the fact that you two were never seen together once you were sorted left me a bit skeptical."

"Before we started attending Hogwarts Ginny and I were friends" Luna began, though the other girls felt there was something that the blonde was leaving out "Mrs. Weasley practically pushed us into playing together as children, and before my mother passed away I think that Mrs. Weasley intended to try and marry me off to Ronald."

Rose noticed Susan shiver at the thought, and Rose had to agree with the girls response after seeing how Ronald Weasley acted around Hogwarts. His lack of table manners and habit to shovel food into his mouth didn't endear him to much of the student population.

"Your mother was an unspeakable before the accident, wasn't she?" Susan asked the younger girl, who nodded her head "not to jump to conclusions, but maybe that's why she wanted you to marry Ronald."

"You think that she wanted to try and get some of the secrets out of the unspeakables?" Rena suggested, following the redheads train of thought. Susan nodded her assent before beginning to explain her theory.

"There are a lot of whispers about the Weasley clan among the other pure-blood families that Aunt Amelia has contact with" Susan began to explain "one of the most unnerving is that before the start of their final year at Hogwarts Arthur Weasley never showed any interest in Molly Prewett, but some people claim that on the Hogwarts express he accepted some sweets from the girl, and as the year progressed they started dating completely out of the blue."

"Couldn't that just be applied to a normal relationship starting?" Rose asked Susan, though she felt unsure about it and there was something nagging at the back of her mind about the whole story.

"The thing is that before then, Arthur Weasley had been dating Bellatrix Black, but right after the sorting they broke up in the middle of the great hall" Susan told the other girls conspiratorially "and having heard about the kind of man Arthur Weasley was back then, he would never consider starting to date another woman right after breaking up with someone like Bella Black."

"That does seem like a rather sudden shift in attitude" Rena agreed with the younger girl as she nodded her head "and considering some of the things that I've heard pure-bloods will do in order to become more powerful, I wouldn't be surprised if she did something like give him love potion to get her hands on the Weasley fortune."

"But because of a bad deal with a foreign family, the Head of the Weasley clan and Arthur's father ended up losing most of their families fortune not long after the two graduated from Hogwarts and were already married" Luna interjected, reminding the two Hogwarts students why the Weasleys were so poor "so Molly was basically trapped with Arthur because the pure-bloods don't really believe in divorce."

"From how it sounds, that could mean that perhaps if this Molly Weasley couldn't get her hands on the Weasley fortune, she might be trying to expand out to other families through her children to get what she wants with the same methods" Rena summarized to the group as she thought about the entire story that she'd heard.

"When I last went to Gringotts I found Molly Weasley trying to gain access to my vault" Rose remembered her trip to the wizarding bank the other day "and during our first year Ronald tried to barge into my compartment on the train while making rude comments about other people."

"The Potter family is considered one of the richest among the pure-blooded families, so I wouldn't be surprised if Molly Weasley craves your money" Susan replied to the story, her mind working a mile a minute over everything they had discussed so far.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't have been in Ravenclaw?" Luna joked with the red-haired girl, who looked sheepish at the suggestion.

"So we have a greedy family Matriarch whose kids are just the right age to marry into a few lucrative families, a manipulative headmaster, and our cute little Rose here who appears to be a target because of her family name" Eve said, reaching over to pull Rose into another hug that the girl didn't flinch away from this time "this sounds like a serious problem."

"It's something for us to talk about make plans to deal with at another time" Rena replied, taking control of the conversation again "we've been here for a while, and we ought to go and get some shopping finished before it gets any later. We still need to pick up clothes for Rose to wear in the specialized classes at Salem."

"Would you mind if we came along?" Susan asked hopefully to the older girl "it's nice to be able to get away from the pure-bloods society for a while, and I've always been interested in Muggle fashion."

"The more the merrier!" Eve chirped as she pulled Rose out of her seat without releasing the small girl from her arms, and began walking with her in her arms out of the cafe while the other girls watched.

"That girl almost reminds me of you Luna" Susan commented as she looked over at Luna, who simply smiled before she got up and followed the pair out of the cafe.

"My older sister is just like that sometimes" Rena explained as she got up, noticing how Susan's eyes widened at just how tall the girl was now that she was no longer sitting down. Brushing it off, Rena offered her hand to the Heiress "come on, or else we'll end up falling behind."

Nodding her head and taking the offered hand, Susan smiled to herself as she was pulled up out of her seat, thinking about the interesting situation she had become part of.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"I see that you've had quite the busy day Rosie" Annie commented as she stepped into the house to the sight of Rose sitting together on the couch resting along with Susan and Luna, surrounded by shopping bags while the older girl could hear Eve working in the kitchen.

"It's been a whirlwind" Rose murmured mostly to herself as she tried to catch her breath from everything that had happened today, and made a vow to never allow Luna to pick out clothes for her again when the girl managed to find some of the most adult-oriented clothing that the young girl had ever seen.

Chuckling before moving to sit on the armrest beside Luna, Annie gave her honorary little sister a pat on the head to try and comfort her "did Evie and Rena take you to get enrolled at Salem?"

Catching the way that Susan's eyes lit up at the mention of the prestigious school, Annie had to smile while Rose sighed again, obviously completely wiped from whatever adventures she had been on today.

"The Headmistress was very happy to allow me to attend the school, and then Eve and Rena decided to take me shopping again for more clothes" Rose explained to the older girl, who smiled knowingly at the way her sisters shopped.

"So when did you pick up these two cuties?" Annie teased, making Rose's face go red at the joke while Luna and Eve began laughing and Susan appeared only mildly embarrassed compared to the Potter Heiress.

"I got into contact with her today and we met to talk about a few things before we adjourned to do a bit of shopping" Susan explained to Annie, who nodded in understanding before patting Rose on the back.

"Way to pick up some hotties baby sister, you're going to be quite the lady killer" she continued joking, making the two blondes break into a fresh round of laughter while Rose just wished that she could disappear into the couch.

A momentary frown crossed the older girls face as she looked down at Rose, memories popping into her mind of the scars that she had seen running up and down the girls body when she had decided to help Rose try on clothes, and those she and her sisters had discovered while they were getting Rose changed before they put her to bed.

Much as she would have liked to question the girl about the origins of the multiple scars, bruises and healing injuries, she had been fighting with herself over how to breach the topic with Rose, and since she hadn't known the girl for all that long, she wasn't sure how Rose would take the inquiry into her personal life.

While she was worried about the girl possibly being a former victim of abuse, there wasn't really anything she could do to help until Rose brought up the topic herself, and considering how withdrawn she was, she didn't expect Rose to be forthcoming with the information.

For the moment all Annie could do was try to be supportive and helpful to the younger girl in whatever way she could, along with her sisters, and hope that some day the girl would open up further and let them in on her history.

Annie could only hope that there would be a way to get back at those who messed with her baby sister, and make them pay for harming such a wonderful young girl.

Shaking away those thoughts, Annie appreciated her younger sister's timely arrival with food for the girls, and began to make new plans in her head about trying to teach the girl to cast like they did at Salem, mostly through wand movement and intent, instead of announcing what they were trying to do like most idiots at Hogwarts were taught.

If anyone wanted to harm Rosie again, she was going to make sure that the girl could defend herself, and if need be her friends as well. Annie took a moment to look over at Luna and Susan and assured herself that she would prepare all three of these girls for the world.

 **X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

 **Shorter than the last chapter I know and I'm sorry about that, but I realized too late that I basically rushed through the day and by the end of the chapter I couldn't add anything else without it feeling phoned in, so I chose to instead cut my losses for the chapter and just end it there so next chapter I can get a fresh start on a new topic(s).**

 **I didn't initially intend for the Russo family to expand like they did, or to become so ingrained into the plot, but once I started writing the chapter my muse just took off with the girls, and I only regained a modicum of control after in finally got to work Luna and Susan into the story again.**

 **The Russo girls will be a part of the story, but I'm planning to sort of write them out as it progresses, since I want to have** the **story focus more on main characters, and I will be introducing a more varied cast in future chapters.**

 **Sorry it took so long to write this, I was kind of just chipping away at it for a while, and wasn't able to find ways to get the chapter to flow well right away. Like I said before this is more groundwork, and once I get more characters introduced to work with I'm hoping that the story will flow better.**

 **See you all in the next chapter~!**


End file.
